RADIUM LUMINOUS PAINT FULL

It wasn’t until the 1950’s that the health issues were officially recognised. However, with a lack of a suitable substitute, radium paint continued to be used. Additionally, some also painted their fingernails, face and teeth with the glowing substance. They often “pointed” their brushes on their lips in order to give them a fine tip. The exposure to radium caused countless health issues and many needless deaths. During World War 1 these factories were mainly staffed by women.

RADIUM LUMINOUS PAINT FULL

Health issuesĪt the time nothing was known about the danger of radiation and factories were full of staff applying the radioactive paint to the dials. Even though the watch had ceased to glow the radium had hardly decayed at all and was still emitting radiation. The trench watches could have the dials and hands repainted when the zinc sulphide phosphor burned out. However, after about three years the zinc sulphide phosphor was burned out by the continual radiation bombardment and no longer glowed in the dark. The paint continued to glow even when stored away from the light. This paint glowed constantly, day and night, without needing any exposure to sunlight. The zinc sulphide phosphor glowed brightly when hit by radiation from the radium. The luminous paint used on World War 1 trench watches was made with a mixture of radium and zinc sulphide phosphor doped with an activator, usually copper.

That’s where radioactive luminous paint entered the equation. There needed to be another way of illuminating the dial, without drawing attention to oneself. Lighting a match or raising a lantern created a dangerous scenario whereby you could become victim to a sniper’s bullet. If you couldn’t see the dial in the pitch black of night you had few options. Knowing the time was always a requirement in the trenches. Just because it was dark, didn’t mean the war came to a halt. A luminous dial on a trench watch was a necessity for life in the trenches.

Radium luminous paint